Eater
This Award-Winning Winery Quietly Went Up for Sale
Well-established Sonoma County winery Sbragia Family Vineyards has gone up for sale after its tasting room closed in August, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. No word from Ed and Adam Sbragia, the father-son duo who founded the winery in 2004 and earned a winemaker of the year award in 2005, on the reason for the closure, but Sam Bronfman, co-founder of a private equity firm with a large stake in the brand, cited a “real falloff in visitation at wineries.” (The California wine industry has experienced significant disruption and decline since the onset of the pandemic.) Bronfman also noted that Sbragia is “off the beaten path,” requiring customers to seek it out.
The winery will continue to sell its wine wholesale and through its wine club; Bronfman did not confirm if it would produce wine for the 2024 vintage. Recent data from winery analytics service Community Benchmark indicates that tasting room traffic was down almost six percent year-over-year for January through June of 2024, per the Chronicle.
A khao soi pop-up comes to Japantown
Chef Pim Techamuanvivit, the name behind Michelin-starred Thai restaurants Nari and Kin Khao, is launching a pop-up, the San Francisco Standard reports. Khao Soi Shop, as the new venture is called, will serve its namesake silky khao soi on Nari’s second floor at lunchtime on Friday and Saturday, from noon to 2:30 p.m., though Techamuanvivit may later expand the hours depending on interest. There’s plenty of seating for dining in. She plans to scale down the spice level in the pop-up’s khao soi just a bit, letting customers add their own chile oil and choose their protein (think chicken, short rib, or duck confit). She’ll offer starters, too, plus the brothy pork and rice noodle dish called khao soi mae sai.
Who’s calling 311 on Biergarten?
A prodigious grump is racking up noise complaints against outdoor Hayes Valley bar Biergarten, according to the San Francisco Standard. One single, unidentified person has lodged 38 of the 45 noise complaints the bar has received in 2024, attaching notes to each, like, “Even with earplugs I can hear that pounding pounding pounding” and “Please remind those German drunks that they do NOT own the neighborhood.” But as the Standard notes, Biergarten closes at 9 p.m. (and even earlier on Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday), and isn’t exactly known for rowdy events and parties. “Sure, I can hear their music sometimes on a Saturday at 2 p.m.,” another resident weighs in. “But it’s like a distant noise.” Inspectors have actually “deprioritized” the bar, per the Standard, as it’s never had compliance issues.
Brentwood rejects Popeyes; raises questions about fast food
Brentwood recently put the kibosh on a new fast food venture, rejecting a conditional use permit for Louisiana-based chain Popeyes to open on Brentwood Boulevard, the Mercury News reports. The city council voted 4-1 to deny the permit, counteracting Brentwood’s planning commission, which had approved it in August. Prior to the vote, residents weighed in on their concerns about the addition of a new fast-food restaurant to an area that already has 11, citing concerns about traffic congestion, a lack of “healthy” food in the area, and a desire for “higher-quality” restaurants. The process was contentious, however—the full story is worth a read.
Correction: September 16, 2024, 6:16 a.m.: This article was corrected to clarify that Sbragia Family Vineyard’s tasting room has closed, but the winery itself remains open.